Got me thinkin'

Doing all this research on state capitol reporting and the decline in recent years in coverage of the statehouse has really got me thinking. The relationship between reporters and politicians is a funny one --- symbiotic, actually. We need them to do our jobs and they need us to do theirs.

So what if reporters stopped covering the statehouse completely? What would really happen? Would state legislators simply cease to exist? Would they sit out on the Captiol steps, wailing about how they can ever be expected to do their work effectively without reporters conveying their wants and needs to the public, and having the public's wants and needs conveyed to them?

I doubt it. But that doesn't mean we should continue to pull manpower from the Capitol. The media has a very large influence on the issues that most Americans think about everyday. And without the media a lot less information about a lot more important issues would never be disseminated.

That's why the slim press corps at the statehouse now is a perfect remedy for politicians - they still get what they want out of reporters, but they know that watchdog element of journalism likely isn't there.

Sure, the daily grind of statehouse proceedings aren't always sexy or scandolous, but come on ... this is where the action happens, where taxes are raised, where laws are implemented, where aspects of our daily lives are dictated.

So we should pay a little more attention, that way we can do more than just report the obvious.